Water bicycle



'March 30 1926. 1,578,395

\ a. E. CHAPIN WATER BICYCLE Filed June 1 1925 s Sheets-Shee t 1 March 30 1926.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 swam/m 1 gwuantot March so, 1926. 1,5 8,395

G. E. CHAPIN wmm BICYCLE Filed June 18, #925 5 beets-Sheet 5 an a/70p),

Patented Mar. 30, 1926.

. UNITED STATE-ls GtnN n. onarrn, or sA v Ammo; Texas. 1

WATER BIcYcLn. i

Application filed June 18, 1925; Serial N saosa To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, GLENE. 'GHAIIN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at San Antonio, in the county of Bexar and State of Texas, have mvented certain new and useful Improvements in Water Bicycles, of v which the following is a specification.

This invention appertains to water ve-- hicles and more particularly to a novel manually propelled boat, constructed to siinuf late the appearance of a bicycle.

The primary object of the present inven tion is to provide a boat constructed to simulate the appearance of a bicycle embo'dylng a single central pontoon of a stream line shape with novel means, for balanclng the pontoon when theboat-is, in use, said balancing meansbeing constructed on the principle of the bicycle steering wheel.

A further'object of the invention is to I provide a boat, of the so-called bicycle type including a stream line shaped central pontoon having a bicycle frame arranged on the upper face thereof including a pair of handlebars, means for operating the boat including a propeller, and a rudder for guiding and balancing the pontoon,.arranged at the front end of the pontoon and in a plane below the propeller, operated from the handle bars. 7 3 v q V A further object'of the invention is to'provi de a novel type of self-propelled boat of the so-called bicycle type, which can be readily operated in shallow water and owing tothe safety features thereof is particularly adapted-for children, the said safety features embodying Vertically swingingbalanc .ing planes normally arranged in a :horizontalplane for engaging the surface of the water, the said balancing planes being operated from the handle bars of the boat for working in'iconjunction with the steering and balancing rudders.

A'still further object of the invention is to provide a novel boat'of the above charac ter, which will be durable and eflicient in use,,one that will befisimple and easy to' manufacture, and one which can be placed upon the market and afford a maximum amount of amusement for the user thereof.

'VVith these and other objects in view,

'the invention consists in the novel constructioln, arrangement and formation: of arts,

- as will be hereinafter more's'pecifical y described, claimed, and illustratedin theac com'panying drawings, in which drawings:

Figure 1 a side'elevation of [one type of the improved boat of the manually prov Figure 5 is a transverse section through the boat illustrating the arrangement of't'h' 1 balanclng planes thereon. 1

'Referring to the drawings 111 "detail wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter-A generally indicates one type of the improved boat, which isparticularly' adapted to racing or speed purposes. The boat 'A is more particularly designed for use by olderfpersons and is provided with a novel. balancing means as' will be hereinafter more fully described. lVhile in the specification, the term bicycle boathas been--nsetl,"it isj'to be' understood that this expression is used in the sense that the boat is of abalancing type and is provided with a frame which simulates'the appearance of an ordinary bicycle construction.

The boat embodiesa single longitudinally extending pontoon 10 of astream line configuration including the front' sharp edge The pontoon can be formed in any 11.- desired way. but is preferably; constructed from sheet metal to'provi'de an air and water tight construction. The upper face of the pontoon supp'o'rtsa bicycle frame 12 including the usual rearfork 13 WhlCl1 is bolted or otherwise fixed at its lower end to thepontoon 10 adjacent to the rear end ed or otherwise fixed ,to the upper face of the pontoon 10 at the longitudinal center 'thereof. This handle bar post'le preferably inclines rearwardly atan angle to the vertical and is connectedtothe supportlZ by means of a connecting upper bar 15. Angularly extending bars 16 and 17 are con nectedrespectively to the upper end of the fork 13 and the post 1 at a point inter mediate its ends and the meeting point of 'these" anglil'arly extending bars ,16 andl'? forms a bearing inwhichis rota tablv IHOHnted a' crank shaft 18 towhicb is fix'ed'suitable thereof. The front of-the frame embodies v the hollow handle bar post 14 which is rivetpedals lt). This crank -shaft 19 has securedj or'otherwise affixed thereto a beveled drive I gear: 20 Which-.meshes with beveled gear 21 keyed or otherwise"secured to a drive shaft 22. This drive shaft 22 extendsthrough the pontoon l and extends downwardly and i'earwardly therefrom. The loweredge of the pontoon at the rear end thereof supports a. rigid keel 23 which serves as 'ineans for balancing; the boat in water and this keel 23 has formed thereon acasing 24 through which thedrive shaft 22 extends. A. suitable drive propeller 25 iscarried by a i shaft for propelling the: boat'through the --.Water. Rotatably mountedywithin the: front the handle bar-post 26-has secured thereto .the downwardly and rearwardly guidingsteering column 14 is the handlebar post 26 which extends through the column 14 and through the pontoon 10.: The lower end of rudder 27 andv it is tobe noted that this rudder-is disposed below the keel 23 and serves as an effective means for balancing the boat when the saineis in use; The guiding rudder 27 can be braced'by. suitable brackets 28, which are securedthereto at a point intermediate the, ends thereof. bracket extends upwardly and forwardly at an angle and is secured directly to the handle bar post 26. Suitable collars 29 are connected: with the column for engaging the; the bracket and to form a bearing therefor.

The lower end of the column is supported by a'suitable depending bracket 30. Secured to the upper end of the post in;a ny desired 'der.2 7 is used in the ordinary ,manner tosteer the boat and is also used for balancing purposes similar to the front, wheel of a bicycle and owing to the position of the rudder the same readily serves for this pure pose. As the boat gains speed, the same becomes more stable and there is less necessity, for using the rudder27 for balancing purposes; in view of the arrangement of the rudder-all necessity of side pontoons is entirely eliminated and relatively great speed can be obtained with the boat in view of the little resistance offered thereby to the water. a v v V InFigure 2 is disclosed a similar type of boat, which is generally indicated bythereference character The only difference between the type Bend the type A, is

that the pedals and crank shaft 19 and 18 are eliminated in: the second form. and a motor substituted therefor. ,This motor 35 is arranged directly on the" upper sur- I face of the pontoon 10 and the rear end of the crank shaft 36 thereof is provided with a drive gear 37 which-meshes with a drive This '7 gear 38 on thepropeller shaft. A'control for the motor can be arranged on the handle bars as indicated by the, reference character 39 In Figures 4 and 5 is shown a modified form of boat, which is particularly adapted to' be-used in shallow water and by small children. This form is generally indicated by the reference,character C and embodies a pontoon 40 which is of a greater height and length than the pontoon 10 shown in Figures 1 and 2. v The transverse sectional con-figuration of the pontoon' iO is however substantially the same as-the pontoonllOand includes the converging. side walls 41' and the top wallor deck 4L2. Tliisepontoon 40 is also provided with the f-ront'inclined lead- I ing edge 43.

Arranged upon the deck l2 of thepontoon V 40 at apoint intermediate its ends isa-f rame 44 constructed substantially the same as a bicycle frame and: includes thefr ar fork 45 secured at its lower end to the pontoonand a bicyclexhan'dle bar column l6 which. is

extended throughthepontoon at the front end therof. The column 46 flllCl lllG fork l5 are arranged in diverging I relation and are connected by the longitudinally extending bar 47. The frame 44 'sup.-,

51 to which is,

secured the ordinary type of pedals, .52.

Secured to the crank Shaft/ 51: in any preferred way is the drive bevel gear which meshes with a bevel gear 5t secured to. the propeller sliaft 55. This propeller shaft 55 ;can be rotatably mounted in asuitable'casing 56 which exports a bearing for the crankshaft tends downwardly and rearwardly into V the pontoon 4:0. 1 The driveshaft caii be made in sections and the 'sectionsxare con ,neeted'by a suitableuniversaljoint 57 and thelower section isirotatably mounted with suitable-stuffingbox 58 carried; by the rear end of the boat, This rear section Shaft has secured thereto in fanydesired way a screwpropeller Arranged. slightly above the propeller 59v is therudder 60 carried by the steering post 61 thezupp er end of which car ries the laterallyextending arms 62. :It is to be noted that. the post 61 is carried by a bearing 63 v supported brackets 6 L securedtothe rear. end of the pontoon. Rotatably mounted within thesteeringcoluinn a6 is the handle bar post 65 the upper end of which is connected to any preferred type of bicycle handle bars 66. 'Th lower end. of the handle bar column 46 is extended through the bottom of the post and has securedtheretoa steering rudder 67. A sad- ,dl e seat 68 isarranged. in rear of the handle bars and adjustably carried by the frame W'hile the steering rudder GTis disposed below the propeller. 59 and the rear rudder f 60,1 it is, to bev noted that the sameis not disposed at a relatively great distance from 69 for this purpose.

the bottom of the pontoon and thus while the rudder 67 can be employedfor balancing purposes, I provide balancing planes 68 and The balancing planes 68 and 69 are arranged on the opposite sides of the pontoon at points substantially intermediate its ends and the forward ends of the planes are provided with hinge barrels 70 which receive outwardly extending stub shafts 71 carried by the pontoon. The stub shafts 71 are arranged adjacent to the upper edge of the pontoon and the planeswhich are preferably formed of flat metal are adapted to be normally positioned in a horizontal plane for engaging the upper surface of the water. Angle brackets 72 are secured to the upper surface of the balancing planes 68 and 69 adjacent to the inner tor ward corners thereof and these brackets have secured thereto pull cables 7 3 which lead to radially extending arms 74: carried by the handle bar post 65. As clearly shown in "Figure 4: of the drawings the arms 74 are formed on the handle bar post 65 at cliametrically opposite points. Thepull cables 7 3' are extended rearwardly from the.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or scope 0t this lnvention, butwhat I claim as'new 1s:

asingle longitudinally extending pontoon, a propeller carried by the rear'end of the pontoon, means for operating the propeller,

a steering and balancing rudder carried by v 40 p ,1.-In a, boat'ot the character described,v I

thefront end of the pontoon, fiat balancing planes rockably carried by the pontoonat a point intermediate its ends normallyarranged in a horizontal'plane and means for operatively connecting the balance planes with the rudder.

2. Ina boat of the character describ d, 6

a single longitudinally extending pontoon, abicycle frame carried by the upper face of of the pontoon including a fork and'a front handle bar column extending through the pontoon, a handle bar post rotatably mountedwithin the column, handle barsfor 1 the post, a rudder carried by the rear end 6 of the pontoon,a propellerv carried bythe rearend' of the pontoon, means for'operating the propeller. "fiat balancing planes rockably carried by the opposite sides of the pontoon at a point intermediate its ends, a

rudder carried by the lower end of the handle bar post adjacent to the forward end of the pontoon, and means for operating the rear rudder and the balancing planes from the handle barpost synchronously with the front rudder. e

' In testimony whereof I aflix'my signa ture. a

GLEN GHAPIN. 5 

